Araújo

The progenitor of Araújo's surname is probably Don Rodrigo Annes, who was the Lord of the Castle and the lands of Araújo, located in the south of the Kingdom of Galicia, in the current province of Ourense. That castle was on the border between the Kingdom of Galicia and the north of Portugal. Some point to the knight Vasco de Araujo, as the first to use that surname as a nickname.

According to various historians, Don Rodrigo Annes de Araújo was descended from members of the royal families of the kingdom of France and the kingdom of Burgundy through a noble French knight named Iohannes Tirante, also known as "Jean Tyranothe". This French knight, along with a large number of knights from France and Burgundy, participated in the battles of the Reconquista, helping to expel the Moors and defend the kingdom. Reconquered lands were donated to the knights who participated in the battles, as well as other royal privileges.

The existence of this knight is verified throughout the acts of royal privileges granted by the king Alfonso VII of Leon, and his son, where it is possible to see the name Iohannes Tirante among the nobles who received royal privileges. His name also appears in a scroll dated 1139, in which he is mentioned together with other nobles involved in the reconstruction of a church in the south of Galicia.[1] Iohannes Tirante would be the son of a Galician nobleman named Fernando Annes, with a French woman of noble origin, a descendant of the royal houses of France and Borgoña, probably one of the daughters or granddaughters of king Philip I of France, or of Duchess Hidegard of Burgundy. He moved to Galicia after 1128, to help his father who was one of the most powerful men in that kingdom. In this period, in addition to fighting the Moors, He would help King Afonso VII of León defend Galician interests against Prince Afonso Henriques, who was trying to proclaim himself king of Portugal. At the time, Portugal was a county linked to the Kingdom of Galicia.

According to Alexandre Herculano, in the year 1139, Fernando Annes - who was known by the title Princeps Limiae for being governor in the south of Galicia - would defend the lands of Galicia against the attacks of Afonso Henriques. That fits perfectly with what the chroniclers say, because Iohannes Tirante would fight in this battle, in which he, his father, relatives and friends would defeat Afonso Henriques.[2]

After some time in Galicia, Iohannes Tirante married a woman named Mayor Garces de Asa, daughter of Count Don Garcia de Asa. Asa's family was at that time one of the most powerful in the kingdom, descendants of one of the Infantes of the kingdom of León, which helps to explain the origins of the Araújo family in Asa's house, as some genealogists maintain. From the marriage with Dona Mayor Garces de Asa, Iohannes Tirante had at least one son, named Xoán Annes, who was Captain of Arms in the reign of Afonso VII. This Xoán Annes would also be the ancestor of Rodrigo Anes, lord of the castle of Araújo.

Later, in 1492, the Kingdom of Galicia along with other Kingdoms in the Iberian peninsula were united to become the Kingdom of Spain. Throughout Spain's colonial period between the 16th and 19th century a number of Galician Spaniards bearing the surname Araújo in the service of the King of Spain moved to colonize the territories of the Spanish Empire in North America and South America.

Throughout Portugal's colonial period a number of Portuguese bearing the Araújo surname moved to settle Portugal's overseas empire.

A lot of things have been named after the Araujo surname, such as lands; neighborhoods, streets, valleys, buildings, businesses, a plant, etc.

The bishop of Malacca, D. João Ribeiro Gaio, dedicated this quintilla to the Araújos:

Across the Bitorinho

in the land watered by the Miño River

there are now-worn graves of

famous Araújos,

ancient and magnified.

• Araújo family, Portuguese Americans in the film Mystic Pizza

• ARMORIAL LUSITANO, Editorial Enciclopédia Ltda., Lisboa, 1961, Prof. Afonso Eduardo Martins Zuquete.